Zeta Bar

Why is it that on the Tuesday of the long weekend, you actually feel more poorly than on a regular Monday? I didn’t even have a terribly exciting long weekend, yet all of yesterday at work I felt half-asleep and on more than one occasion almost nodded off over my keyboard. At least I had after work drinks with a fellow bar-fly to look forward to!

My birthday drinks are later this week and as of yesterday, I still had not the faintest clue of where I should go for them. I had a bar-fly friend recommend Zeta Bar, and having been there on one memorable occasion for my manager’s farewell party, I decided to go there again a little earlier this time to scope the place out.

I arrived at Zeta Bar at 5.00 pm on the dot, just as they opened, to be greeted cheerily by all the vested bartenders polishing glasses in the vast, empty bar. The decor is modern and immaculate, with high ceilings and a giddily-high balcony overlooking the busting George Street and QVB which is currently undergoing some form of facelift on the George Street-side. I later on perched gingerly at one of the balcony tables; I didn’t sit at the table directly overlooking the street, because I’m not so great with heights and it was a very long way down!

I had a chat to one of the bartenders about how busy they got on Friday nights (at the moment they have a Friday night theme of ‘Coney Island’) before ordering their Cocktail of the Month, the cocktail with canape set that they have for the Food Festival month. Everything is meticulous table service here, and once you’re served you’re asked if you wish to start a tab. Considering the prices of all the cocktails here and how legendary they sound, I imagine it would be one big surprise for your wallet at the end of the night if you handed your card over for drinks with a group of friends! The bathrooms are also very posh, with a girl sitting in a chair handing you towels to dry your hands on (if you’re really incapable of getting one yourself), and upon leaving an hour or so later, another lady noticed us heading for the glass elevator and called the lift for us. I’m not used to being pampered so much, so I found being waited on hand and foot slightly embarrassing.

The cocktail of the month was called a French Floradora, a heady and perfumed combination of gin, fresh lime and Chambord topped with dry ginger ale. It came with a canape of sesame pan-seared tuna, crispbread and babaghanoush.

The cocktail was refreshingly fruity, one of the best cocktails I’ve had in a long time, with the dominant flavours of the Chambord and lime coming through. I spent a good while admiring the pretty colour of the drink, and when my canapes arrived (it took some time), I was delighted to see that they matched in colour!

I’ve only had tuna sashimi on one occasion and it was somewhat stringy, making me prefer salmon sashimi instead. But I was told that what I had had was a lesser-quality cut, so upon tasting this I was delighted to find that I did in fact like tuna. It was a tasty little morsel, gone within three bites and then there was sadness as there was no more.

Oh well. Guess all I can do is come back at the end of the week for my birthday shenanigans and order this tasty little set again, aye? 😉

Welcome!

I'm Cath at Confessions of a Glutton. I'm a cheesecake-devouring, sushi-craving, ramen-obsessed, salted-caramel-lover who is also a dance fitness instructor and a solicitor, living in the Northern Suburbs of the glorious city that is Sydney, Australia. These are my ramblings.